Vitamin D supplements don’t seem to help sick people with Covid-19

The results of new clinical trials suggest that vitamin D supplements do not help people hospitalized with moderate to severe covid-19. Elsewhere, a controversial preliminary treatise that suggested that vitamin D would benefit was pulled by Lancet because of “concerns” about study design.

Vitamin D has emerged as a new covid-19 panacea for some on social media and has replaced past favorites like hydroxychloroquine.We have a lot evidence That many people can use more daily vitamin D in their lives, especially during the winter months. A deficiency of this vitamin, which can be taken as a supplement or synthesized on the skin in strong sunlight, can certainly affect the overall health of people. However, evidence that vitamin D plays a major factor in the severity of covid-19, or that supplementation with it may help treat ongoing cases, is far less solid.

Survey in late January release The situation seems to have changed with the preprint server SSRN operated by the journal Lancet. The authors claim that calcifediol, a by-product of vitamin D, was found to reduce the risk of death in covid-19 patients admitted to Spain by as much as 60% compared to those who received standard treatment. Did.For comparison, the arthritic drug tocilizumab Recently found To reduce mortality in severe covid-19 patients by 4% in a large UK trial. This is a conservative result that is promising enough to enshrine it as standard treatment along with steroids in critical cases.

But it wasn’t long before outside scientists It has started To Raise a problem With those results. For example, study design was described as both randomized and observational studies by the author at various points in the treatise. This is two very different things. Randomized trials, in which some people are randomly assigned to receive treatment, are considered the gold standard of clinical evidence because they better confirm that the drug has a real beneficial effect on the disease. .. Observational studies, in which scientists simply observe the differences between groups of people receiving different care, are important in medicine, but their conclusion is that it is difficult to know if a particular treatment actually caused an effect. It is generally seen more carefully. Other criticisms of this article included lack of relevant data about patients (such as baseline vitamin D levels in some patients) and potential statistical deficiencies. And, of course, the findings are still preliminary, no matter what, as they haven’t gone through the peer review process yet.

Lancet on friday It was deleted A paper from the preprint server cites “Concerns about explaining the research in this paper.” We also announced that we will start investigating the investigation.

Meanwhile, the results of a genuine randomized trial of vitamin D in covid-19 are as follows: Release Wednesday’s Journal of American Medical Association — The Largest Study Ever. Brazilian researchers said that 240 people with moderate to severe covid-19 were randomized in a hospital to receive a single high dose of vitamin D (200,000 IU compared to 600-800 IU daily). It was. Recommendation For the average adult) or placebo.

Anyway, there was no difference in length of stay between those who took vitamin D and those who did not. There were also no differences in other important indicators, such as mortality or the likelihood that someone would require invasive ventilation. And while the treatment seemed safe, one patient probably had an episode of vomiting associated with it.

“The findings do not support the use of high doses of vitamin D3 for the treatment of moderate to severe COVID-19,” the author writes.

JAMA’s study is still one study, and in medicine nothing should be decided based on one study. Again, too many people aren’t getting the amount of vitamin D they need anyway, so there’s nothing wrong with checking your level with the help of a doctor.But there were countless other pandemics. Potential treatment It goes back and forth with little effect to show it.

In general, it is difficult to test a particular effect of vitamin D intake under any condition, as vitamin D intake is often an indicator of other things. For example, a person with high vitamin D levels may be a person who exercises frequently outside. It may be exercise or overall health that actually enhances protection.

If Vitamin D works for covid-19, it can be modest at best.And lack of enthusiasm for this As some have suggested, treatment is certainly not evidence of a grand conspiracy to downplay vitamin D to allow doctors to claim more expensive drugs.After all, the most successful and life-saving drug of covid-19 to date is Dexamethasone, Generic steroids that can cost less than $ 10 per treatment.